Brian Enke (born 31 October 1964) is an American software integration expert and author. Enke currently conducts space research as a Senior Research Analyst in the Department of Space Studies at the Boulder, Colorado branch of the Southwest Research Institute. He lives in Nederland, Colorado.
In 2001, Enke developed the first "Third-Generation" (3Gen) manned Mars exploration and space settlement plan. His Medusa 3Gen plan is a set of 15 modifications to the NASA Design Reference Mission version 3.0 and Mars Direct architectures. The primary goals of the Medusa architecture are to achieve an order of magnitude reduction in mission cost, risk, and complexity compared to Mars Direct. Enke initially promoted the Medusa 3Gen plan in his 2004 fictional novel, Shadows of Medusa.